John 6:25-27 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? (26) Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. (27) Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
If this Christmas is like most, many of us will receive gifts that we did not ask for and do not want. However, we often receive them with joy because it is “the thought that counts”. We use this philosophical outlook in many walks of life...including religion.
The religious world typically promotes the concept that as long as you claim to follow Jesus, then that is ALL that really matters. It does not matter HOW you follow Jesus nor does it matter WHY you follow Jesus. It seems that the religious world views God as a desolate grandfather that is so desperate to get attention, he’ll take anything.
In our text today, Jesus says other wise. In the opening verses of this chapter, we find Jesus miraculously feeding a huge crowd of people. The next day they seek him again and ultimately find him (verse 26). But does Jesus praise them for seeking him? Is he thankful that they put in an attempt regardless of the reason? NO he doesn’t. In fact, he chastises them. He said that you sought me for the wrong reason. You did it for selfish, worldly reason...you wanted another free meal.
In verse 27 Jesus tells us the kind of disciples that he wants. Jesus says that we should not focus on the “meat” of this world, but we should focus on spiritual “meat”.
Christianity should not be a peripheral item in our lives. It must be who we are and the priority of our lives!
No comments:
Post a Comment